January Challenges for the Friday Fanatics

Since we will not meet at our usual time for the last two weeks in January, the Fanatics have been issued two Challenges. Send me photos of your work to post to the group.

Challenge #1: Using a photo or sketch as reference, turn the image upside down and then do your painting upside down. This is a technique we saw in a John Lovett video at AAC. It helps you focus on shapes rather than your perceptions of what those shapes should look like.

Challenge #2: Paint a self portrait. Any medium is acceptable except photography. This can be from any time in your life. I'm posting the first two entries here. Can you guess who they are?

Review of new medium by Irina Rieppi

Dear Artists, 

Let me share with you an interesting wet-medium which can work as watercolor: water-soluble graphite ArtGraf (by Portuguese producer Viarco).

I discovered it recently during one of the demos at Binders and here are the reasons why I found it a very interesting medium:

•       Beautiful earth color palette
•       You can take a looooot of pigment on a brush and make really thick strokes
•       It can be lifted up from paper with an eraser once it’s completely dry
•       Most of pigments granulate beautifully on cold press and torchon paper
•       You can combine both techniques, usual pencil drawing and watercolor, using just one graphite disk

I think all these make it a fantastic instrument for sketching!

Here are the video demos on how to use it: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb4avnrWPOc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6jTvQUtoSg

More from December 4

And a few more paintings and painters...

Painting with the Fanatics on December 4

Here are some paintings and painters from the Friday Fanatics group.

Holiday Greetings from the Friday Fanatics. We've started our Christmas cards. Have you?

 Dave Kaplan's Yuletide Carols Being Sung by a Choir.

 Patsy Cannon's watercolor Christmas bear.

Jane Springfield's oil-in-progress -- Patagonia Christmas Penguin.

Friday Fanatics share some recent work from our November 20 session.

 Clyde Draughon paints a reenactment.

 Ujjagar Wassan painted on a recent cruise.

Patsy Cannon (coached by Dave Kaplan) did her first oil painting.

You are never too young or too old to paint with the Friday Fanatics

This week Erik Georges, student member, painted with us one more time before he leaves for his freshman year at college. Jerry Solomon, lifetime member (who just celebrated his 95th birthday), painted with us like he does every week.